Okay now, Psalm 42. I feel like I've preached from
a psalm before somewhere and have given another psalm this
same title because the title I'm giving to this psalm is found
in this psalm and others as well. In verse 5 you see it, Hope Thou
in God. hope thou in God. As believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have no reason to be hopeless, do we? We have every reason to be of
good courage. We have every reason to have
hope in God. Hope of pardon, hope of salvation,
hope of forgiveness, hope of being made a new creature in
Christ, Our hope we have in Him is a good hope. through his grace,
and grace alone. God has given us an everlasting
consolation and a good hope, a good hope through grace. So hope thou in God, in the living
God, in the true God, God who is God. As he repeats over and
over throughout the gospel of Isaiah, Beside me, our Lord says,
beside me there is no other God. I'm the only just God and Savior. Hope thou, hope thou in not a
mere idol, not a mere tradition, not a mere religious profession,
not a mere way of men, but hope thou in God. the living and true
God. We can have a good hope in Him.
He is our hope. For He is all of our salvation.
Now truly, David, David, King David, the scripture says, I
think in at least two places, he was a man after God's own
heart. That is, God gave him a new heart. A new heart. A heart
that loved God. that believed God, that bowed
in submission unto the true and living God. David was used of
God as a king of Israel to faithfully rule there in Israel for 40 years. God anointed him and blessed
him 40 years. He was God's king and also God's
prophet to declare God's truth. David says in 2 Samuel 23 2 where
he's on his deathbed and dying he said the Spirit of God you
think about this now the Spirit of God spake by me he is made
with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and is
sure this is all my hope and all my salvation hope thou in
God but let us never put David or any of God's dear saints,
past or present, above what every believer truly is, a sinner saved
by grace, by grace alone. Therefore, subject to trial,
subject to infirmity, subject to heartache, even spiritual
depression. Sometimes we get real low. That's
why David says, Why art thou cast down on my soul? He keeps
questioning himself about his being depressed. Spiritual depression. Thinking
God's mercy is clean gone. Thinking that there's no hope
for such a wretched man as David. and truly David expresses in
this psalm, David truly expresses that in this psalm, I'm a wretched
man, but he also truly expresses his hope, his hope, his comfort,
his encouragement, for he says over here several times in this
psalm and in psalm 43 as well, hope thou in God, hope thou in
God, the living God, unto the God of my life. He says in verse
9, God my rock, I will say unto God my rock. He's my foundation,
the foundation of my salvation. I'll say unto God my rock. Why
aren't thou cast down? Why hast thou forgotten me? Now, here's another psalm that
I want you to read in reference to this psalm here, Psalm 77.
Psalm 77. David, although anointed of God,
blessed of God, David was yet a man, frail and sinful. He had to keep reminding himself,
hope thou in God. Hope thou in God. That's what
he says over here in Psalm 77, look at verse 7. Will the Lord
cast off forever? And will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone? Doth
his promise fail forevermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? David here is pouring out his
heart, isn't he? Hath he in his anger shut up
his tender mercies? And I said this is my infirmity. It's no fault in God. This is
my weakness. This is my sin. This is my infirmity. But I will remember the years
of the right hand. I will remember the years of
the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the works of
the Lord surely. I will remember the wonders of
old. I will meditate also on all thy
work and talk of thy doings. Why are you, why have you cast
off? Why am I disquieted? Why am I
cast down? Now let's go back to verse 1,
Psalm 42 verse 1. As the heart, as the deer in
the forest, maybe the young deer that maybe has been hunted and
chased and is weary and frightened Maybe, maybe running from the
dogs who have been out with the hunters. As the deer, the young
deer panteth, desires the water brooks for that cold, cold and
clear and quenching water, the water brooks. David says here,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Now here's every believer's
true desire. The believer's soul in his heart
longs for and craves and earnestly desires to be found in Christ
and to be one with the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm reminded what the
Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3, where he says, I count everything
lost, dung, and ruined, that I might win Christ and be found
in Him. Our desire is to be one with
Him, to be found in Him. And this is every believer's
desire, to be one with the Lord Jesus. Turn over here to Psalm
63 for a moment. Psalm 63, verse 1. Oh God, Psalm 63, 1, thou art
my God, early will I seek thee, my soul thirsteth for thee, my
flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water
is, to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee
in the sanctuary, because thy lovingkindness, now look at this,
my lovingkindness is better than life, in my lips shall praise
thee. Thus will I bless thee while
I live. I'll lift up my hands in thy name. My soul thirsteth
after God, my flesh longeth for God." Now, we confess that this
desire is not there naturally. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. Turn over here to Job 15. Job
15. One of Job's friends made a good
statement here. Job 15 verse 14. You see, man
by nature doesn't desire or seek the true and living God. He loves
darkness, not light. He loves himself, not God. Job
15, 14. What is man that he should be
clean? And he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous. Behold, he putteth no trust in
his saints. Yea, the heavens are not clean
in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinks iniquity like the water. You see, by nature
we drink up sin. It's only by His grace that we
desire and thirst for the water of life in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's only by His sovereign grace
that we desire to know Him. Our gracious Lord encourages
and commands all that are thirsty to come unto Him. We just read
that in Isaiah 55. Our Lord said, turn to John chapter
7, our Lord says in Isaiah 55, Ho everyone that's thirsty, come
unto Me. And our Lord, as He ministers
to His people in the flesh, in John 7, 37, in that last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
You who are thirsty, and that feast of religion didn't satisfy
your need, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He's the water of life. You thirsty
for salvation? You have a need of salvation,
pardon, forgiveness, redemption, regeneration? Our Lord said,
Come to me and drink. Drink. He that believeth on me
As the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. You cannot drink the well of
salvation dry. Are you thirsty like the deer
frightened? where the Lord Jesus Christ is
a well of salvation. He's a well of water. So panteth
my soul after thee, O God. What a blessing to desire, to
have an earnest desire and craving and hunger. Do you ever get really
thirsty? I mean really thirsty. What do
you want? Boy, you want something to quench
that need, don't you? Do you ever get really hungry?
They say one of the strongest desires in our body is that desire
to quench that thirst, to satisfy that appetite. Sometimes you
get so hungry you just devour a meal like a wild animal, don't
you? I do. Sometimes I get so hungry, I
just dive into it. I mean, I just... Why do I do
that? Why have a need? And the only way to satisfy that
need is to get that food down as fast as I can. I tell you
what, my friend, if you ever see the Lord Jesus as the bread
of life, as the water of life, you don't need to browbeat people,
beat up on people. Tell them, won't you drink Christ?
Won't you eat Him? You get thirsty, you get hungry.
Oh, you'll come to Him. You'll come to Him. You'll bow
to Him. You feast upon Him, the water
of life, the bread of life. Look at verse 2. My soul, my
soul thirsteth for God. Not just to be religious, not
to put on a show of religion in hypocrisy. My soul thirsteth
for God. the living God, the sovereign
God, the true God, the one who is God beside Him, there is no
other. When shall I come, David says,
when shall I come? When shall I come and appear,
appear and be with my God? When shall I, when shall that
happen? David desired to be in His presence
forever. And what Paul said, I have a
desire to depart, to be with the Lord, which is far better.
When shall I come and appear before my God?" Now this is our
continual desire. We thirst after Him. We worshiped
this morning. We worshiped last week. And now
we're back again to worship again. We have a desire to worship Him,
don't we? I hope that you're here this evening because you
desire to hear a word from Him. That you desire to worship our
God. we have a continual desire for
the true and living God, not for mere religious idols, not
for pretense and hypocrisy, nor for the prospering of the flesh,
but we desire the true and living God. You see, believers have
been turned to God from idolatry. Turned to God, and as we turn
to God by His grace, we turn away from idols. All of our former religion, all
of our former idolatry, we cast it away and count it as filthy
rag, count it as dung, count it as nothing, oh that we might
win Christ and be found in Him. We must drink Him or die. We must have Christ or die. We must have Him or perish. This
is a believer's perpetual appetite to feast upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. Whatever else you have. If you
don't have Christ, you don't have anything. He's the only
thing worth having. Say, well, I've got a big bank
account. Yeah? Is that going to help you before
God? One day you'll stand before Him
and give an account. Say, well, I've got this, I've
got that. If you don't have Christ, if
you're not in Him, you don't have anything. The last thing,
the fashion of this world is passing away. Notice he says
here, my soul thirsteth for the living God. The living God. Now what do sinners need? Life.
The living God is the only one who can give life. You hath he
quickened who were dead. A dead God, a mere idol God who
wants to and can't. They tell me that God's trying
to save sinners, but they won't let him. That's not any kind
of God. That's a mere idol, isn't it?
That's a peanut God. A dead God cannot save those
dead in sin. but the ever-living God does.
He's able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him,
seeing He ever lived to make intercession for us. He is a
fountain of life. He is light. He is our liberty. Whom the Son set free, they are
free indeed. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has set us free. He is a fountain
of life, light, liberty, and love. the love of God nothing
Paul said in Romans 8 can separate us from the love of God which
is in the Lord Jesus Christ we are more than conquerors to him
that loved us someone came to me sometime back
and criticized the ministry there at Zebulun and he told me that
in those doctrine, or we call it the doctrines
of grace, that there's no love manifested in what we call the
five points. Total depravity, unconditional
election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance
of the saints. He said there's no love in those
doctrines. What an ignorant statement. The love of God is manifested
in the gospel. in the gospel the love of God
is manifested in Christ even in man's fall and ruin the love
of God is manifested well God committed his love toward us
and while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and his election
is electing love and for whom the Lord Christ, whom the Lord
Jesus Christ died for, he died for them out of love how can
you make such a statement as that? A statement of ignorance,
isn't it? We desire here, as it says here,
when shall I come and appear before God? Oh, to see Him face
to face. To see Him face to face. Turn
over here to Psalm 17, verse 15. As for me, behold, I will behold
thy face in righteousness, and I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. Oh, to see him face to face. Can you imagine what glory will
be? To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. Look at verse 3. David said,
My tears, Psalm 42. My tears have been my meat day
and night. David here is broken hearted,
isn't he? Crying and weeping all day and all night. while
they, the enemies of God, while they, the enemies of God, continually
saying to me and mock David, David, where is your God? Where is your God, David? Turn
over here to Psalm 115. Every believer is grieved and
cut to the bone by what's going on in our day in the name of
God and the mockery of a true and living God. This is nothing
new. It's been going on for a long
time. Because the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God. Over here in Psalm 115, verse
1, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory,
for thy mercy, for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, Where is now their God? David, where is your God? We
know where our God is. Dagon or Baal down here in the
temple. He's our idol. We pat him on
the head. We kiss his feet. We know where
he is. David said, our God is in the
heavens. He had done whatsoever He pleased. Their gods are idols
of silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths,
but they don't speak. They have eyes, they don't see.
They have ears, they cannot hear. They have noses, but they cannot
smell. They have hands, but they handle
not. They have feet, but they cannot move. They cannot speak. Look at verse 8. They that make
them are like unto them, and so is everyone that trusteth
them." Those who trust in an idol are just as dead spiritually
as that idol. They say continually, where is
your God? Well, our God is in the heavens,
sovereign. The living and true God does
whatever He pleases in heaven. His will is done in heaven, also
done in the earth. He does according to His will
in the army of heaven, among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand. Whatsoever the Lord pleases,
that's what He does. He saves whom He pleases. He
will have mercy on whom He will. He's prayed in John 17, Father,
you've given me power over all flesh. Now as God, He has all
power, but as a God-man mediator, He has power given of God, all
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as
many as the Father hath given to Him. He saves whom He will. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but it's God that shows mercy. He
works all things after the counsel of His own will. Where is your
God, preacher? Our God is God. He's in the heavens,
ruling and reigning over all things, and one day every knee
will bow, one day every tongue will confess that He is Lord
to the glory of God the Father. Look at verse 4 in our text,
Psalm 42. When I remember these things,
when I remember these things, the rebellion of the wicked,
and the idolatry that was rampant in David's day, and the idolatry
that's rampant in our day. It's everywhere, isn't it? When
I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For I had
gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God,
and I went with a voice of joy and praise with a multitude that
actually kept, believed in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that holy day. And that's the gospel. Every
believer enjoys and looks forward to, with eager anticipation,
to worship the true and living God in the house of God, with
the people of God. And that's why we're here this
evening, not to be seen, but to learn of Him, to worship Him. David said in another psalm,
I was glad when they said unto me, let us go, let us go into
the house of the Lord. Don't you with anticipation look
forward to each Lord's Day that we come together in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ and declare His gospel and worship
Him? I trust we can in spirit and
in truth. It's not a burden. It's not grievous. to preach these things or to
sit and listen and hear these things preached. But for you
it is good, it is needful for all of us to gather together.
The Father seeketh such to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The
writer of the Hebrews said about worship that we are not to neglect
these things. Not to neglect the assembling
of ourselves together as a manner some is, but much more, as you
see today, approaching. We should be more eager, more
interested in assembling together with the saints of God to declare
His gospel. And when we do, it tells us here
how we're to come. We come to the house of God with
joy in our heart. with joy in our heart. We come
rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? We come with joy in
the heart, for we are God's people, the true Israel of God, which
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh, and we come with a heart not only
of joy, but it says there, in a heart of praise, with a heart
of praise, with a voice of joy, and with a heart of praise. We
say with David in another psalm, bless the Lord oh my soul and
all that is within me bless his holy name, Psalm 103. And we
come keeping the holy day. That is to observe or hold fast
the feast day or the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
worship him and we preach, what do we preach? I'm determined,
as the Apostle Paul said, I'm determined not to know anything
among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We hold fast to
that holy day, that holy sacrifice, that holy gospel we have in Christ
and Him alone. Now, he says in verse 5 and verse
11, and then in Psalm 43 verse 5, he repeats this, Why art thou
cast down? on my soul? Why art thou raging,
disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him, I shall yet give thanks for the help of his countenance,
or for the presence of his salvation. Down in verse 11, he repeats
it. Why art thou cast down on my
soul? We have no reason to be cast down. Why art thou disquieted? Hope thou in God. for I shall
yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God."
This is repeated here for our admonition, for our instruction. Here we kind of get an insight
to David's own heart, his own thoughts. David here is talking
to himself And he lets us in on his thoughts, his heart before
God. His faith reasoned with his fears. His hope argues with his sorrows. He seemed to be in a conflict,
doesn't he? We have that old nature. We have that new nature. And there's a battle. There's
a warfare going on. We as believers have no reason
to be cast down, but sadly, and oftentimes, we are. Oftentimes
we say with David, Lord, is your mercy clean gone? Has God forgotten
to be gracious unto us? Oh no, he hasn't. Oftentimes
we might feel that way, or think that way, but we have no reason
to, not as believers. David answers his own question
here, hope thou in God. Hope thou in God. If every evil
be let loose against us, this is the grace, the grace of God
that swims through them all, that survives them all. Hope
thou in God. His grace is sufficient for every
trial. His grace will bring us through.
Hope thou in God. He is unchanging. Says that Malachi
3.6, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. His grace is the ground of our
unshaken hope in Christ Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. It is safe, it's safe for you
to trust Christ for all of your salvation. Hope thou in Him alone. We have a good hope in Christ,
a good hope through grace. For Christ in you is a hope of
glory. It's our everlasting hope, isn't
it? Hope thou in God! Look at verse 6, Psalm 42. Oh my God, my soul is cast down
within me. My soul is down, I'm cast down
within me. Therefore will I remember thee,
will I remember thee, from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites,
from the hill of Miser, I will remember thee." Lord, you remember
what the dying thief said? Lord, you're coming into a kingdom,
you don't stay dead. Lord, remember me. I will remember
thee. I will remember thee. Now maybe
David here is thinking back to the early days of his shepherd,
when he was a shepherd out in the hill country as a shepherd
boy. meditating upon God's mercy in
the past, how he was blessed of God, and how God sustained
him in the wilderness, how God called him, how God anointed
him, in favor to his own soul, in favor to our own soul, it
is good to reflect upon the Lord's merciful dealing with us in the
past, and to press on with confidence. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you, Press on with confidence, trusting
the Lord's precious, exceeding great and precious promises. That his past mercies are new
every morning. That his promises never fail.
God is able to do all that he promised, able to perform all
that he has promised. His mercies are new every morning.
His promises never fail. His love has no measure. His
grace has no beginning. His grace has no end. Oh I remember
thee, I remember thee when I'm cast down. Turn over here to
Psalm 143, Psalm 143. Look at verse 3, Psalm 143. The
enemy hath persecuted my soul. He has smitten my life down to
the ground. He has made me to dwell in darkness
as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit
overwhelmed within me, and my heart within me is desolate."
Well, what am I going to do? I remember the days of old. I
meditate on God's past mercies, I meditate on God's promise,
I remember the days of old, I meditate on all thy works, I ponder on
the work of thy hands, and I stretch forth my hand unto thee, my soul
thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land. You see, David's hope,
he goes right back to his God, doesn't he? Right back to his
Lord. Right back to his Savior. Therefore, I will remember thee. I will remember thee. Look at verse 7 now. Psalm 42. Deep, deep calleth unto deep,
that the noise of thy water spouts, and all thy waves, and all thy
billows are gone over me. David, he remembers the waves
and the billows of trial and heartache. They come from the
hand of our loving Father. Notice it says, thy waterspouts
and thy waves, thy billows. Who sends the trial? Who sends
the heartache? Who sends the chastening rod? Well, God does Himself. Our loving
Father, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. Peter said in 1 Peter 4.12, Think
it not strange concerning the fiery trial, as though some strange
thing happen unto you, but rejoice, you are partakers of Christ's
suffering. Look at verse 8, Psalm 42 verse
8, Yet the Lord will command the Lord will command his loving
kindness. In the daytime and in the night
his song shall be with me and my prayer unto the God of my
life. Yet the Lord will command. I
like that word, don't you? The Lord speaks with command. He speaks, and it's done. What He commands, it stands fast. Remember from Psalm 33? The Lord
will command love and kindness. That's His mercy. The Lord commands
His mercy toward His people. For He will not forsake them
in the daytime, nor in the nighttime, in life, nor in death. His song
shall be with me. My prayer is unto the God of
my life, Christ, who is the living God, is the God of my salvation,
for he bought us with his own blood. My prayer unto God, the
God of my life, the God of my salvation, for salvation is of
the Lord. Praise and prayer cannot be separated. Where you find one, you find
the other, like faith and repentance. Both are the sovereign gifts
of God. Both freely confess that salvation is of the Lord. Verse 9, I will say unto God,
my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning? Because
of the oppression of the enemy. As with a sword in my bone, my
enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, David, where
is thy God? I will say unto God, my rock,
my rock. Our rock is not like their rock. Turn over here to Psalm 62. Certainly
Christ is a rock and foundation of our salvation. So I'll cry
unto my God, my rock. It's good to cry unto the living
God. the true God Psalm 62 my soul verse 5 wait thou only upon
God for my expectation is from him he only is my rock my salvation
he is my defense I shall not be moved in God is my salvation
my glory the rock of my strength and my refuge is in him trust
in him at all times you people pour out your heart before him
God is a refuge for us Verse 10. It says here in verse 9, let's go back there
for just a minute. I will say unto God my rock,
why hast thou forsaken me? Why do I go mourning because
of the oppression of the enemy? Two questions here that David
asked. Why hast thou forsaken me? Well,
the only answer we can give is that it's for our good and for
God's glory and to teach us, to teach us that God finally
and forever forsakes us, but He may withhold His mercy toward
us to teach us to lean on Him more heavily. It's for our good
that God would forsake us for a moment, that with everlasting
kindness He might draw us to Himself. It says that over here,
let's see if we can find it, it's Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54, I
believe it is. Isaiah 54, 7. For a small moment, God said,
I have forsaken thee, but with great mercies I will gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. Why hast thou forsaken
me? For our good. Why do I go mourning
because of my enemies? Again, It's for our good, isn't
it? You know, persecutions that come
our way from those who are opposed to the gospel of God's grace
is not an accident. God sends those on purpose to
help us, to teach us in the way. Now, I'll close with this illustration.
One preacher said in the past, trying to illustrate this point
here, It's a pitiful thing for any man to have a arm or leg
amputated. That's a pitiful thing, isn't
it? You imagine having to do without your leg or one of your
arms. But when we know that the operation
was needful to save the life We are glad to hear it, that
it had been successfully performed. Even thus, as trials unfold in
our life, the design of the Lord sending it our way becomes far
more easier to understand and to bear it when it's for our
good. When it's for our good. It may
be painful at the time, but it's for our good let me show you
scripture here I'll close 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 trials
that the Lord sends our way are precious trials and they're for
our good and for his glory 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 15
for all things are for your sake for your sake, that the abundant
grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory
of God. For the which cause we faint
not, though the outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us, it doesn't work against
us, it works for us a far more and exceeding and eternal weight
of glory. Well, we look not at things which
are seen, but things which are not seen, for the things which
are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal in Christ Jesus. Now here's the point I'm trying to
make. Hope thou in God. When trials come our way, when
afflictions come our way, when distresses come our way, when
the enemy persecutes us because of the gospel that we stand for
and preach, what are we to do? Hope thou in God. Hope thou in
Him. And continue, continue by His
grace, continue to declare the gospel of God's sovereign saving
mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ.